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Oneonta
Our give backs: Oneonta UUPers plow land with Peruvian orphans
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Once Oneonta UUP member Betty Tirado heard about the trip, she knew she had to go. It didn’t matter that she didn’t know anyone who was making the three-week trek to El Girasol, a Peruvian orphanage that’s home to more than three dozen “street children,” most of whom begged and lived on the streets of Cusco before finding their way to the sanctuary. It didn’t matter that she had to cover the $3,500 to pay for the trip, set up by fellow UUPer Karen Joest, an Oneonta professor who was touched by the orphans’ plight and arranged the trip as a summer field course so her students could earn college credit while they learned about life. All Tirado knew was that she had to go. |
Post to TwitterSpotlight shines on three distinguished professors
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Two SUNY Geneseo UUP members and a third from SUNY Oneonta have received distinguished professorships from the SUNY Board of Trustees, a ranking conferred for consistent extraordinary accomplishment. Mary Ellen Zuckerman, a professor in the School of Business at Geneseo, was named a distinguished service professor. Olympia Nicodemi, a professor of mathematics at Geneseo, and James Ebert, chair of the earth sciences department at Oneonta, were named distinguished teaching professors. Zuckerman has been a Geneseo faculty member since 1985 and served for nearly a decade as dean of the School of Business. She has written extensively on the development of the magazine industry, the history of the marketing research and advertising industries, and gender and media. She earned a Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service in 2006. |
Soup (and sandwiches) for the soul: Oneonta UUPers lend a hand by helping out in the community
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For close to two dozen UUPers at SUNY Oneonta, giving back to the community and celebrating solidarity can be summed up with two words: Saturday’s Bread.
Twice a year for the last four years, a troupe of caring UUPers have set aside time to volunteer at Saturday’s Bread, a non-denominational soup kitchen sponsored by the Oneonta First United Methodist Church. The kitchen serves free hot meals every Saturday to anyone who stops in.
UUPers spent the morning and afternoon at the church Nov. 1, preparing about 200 meals of soup and sandwiches for hungry singles and families grateful for a hot meal and friendly faces on a chilly November Saturday. Another 100 meals were prepared for guests to take with them.
“It’s a way for us to reach out and strengthen our ties in the community,” said Oneonta Chapter President Bill Simons, a volunteer. “It also brings our members together, both new and old, to share in something that’s very meaningful.”
The Oneonta chapter began volunteering at Saturday’s Bread back in 2004, when Simons asked Linda Drake, director of the college’s Center for Social Responsibility and Community and a chapter member, to find an organization that UUPers could become involved with. Saturday’s Bread was a perfect fit, she said. This time, members of the local CSEA unit joined UUPers at Saturday’s Bread.
The volunteers arrived at 9:30 a.m., got their assignments and began to make the kitchen hum. Some UUPers started preparing the sandwiches, tossing salads and making desserts. Others pulled out tablecloths, silverware and plates and started setting tables.
When the kitchen opened around 11 a.m., UUP volunteers worked as waiters and waitresses, greeted and seated guests, bussed tables, and served food on the buffet line. Afterward, they cleaned up, scrubbing pots and cleaning dishes.
“I think part of the mission of unionism in America, for UUP and our chapter, is to be an agent of change and to help society,” said Simons. “We have an obligation in our community to extend solidarity beyond the campus perimeters.”
— Michael Lisi
Scholarly pursuits - Oneonta’s Compton is our Fulbright man in Zimbabwe
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It’s a nation with an inflation rate of over 15,000 percent, where political repression is common, the unemployment rate is 80 percent, and where food supplies continue to dwindle. A primary travel destination — not — but it is where UUP member Robert Compton of Oneonta wanted to go as a Fulbright Scholar.
The Fulbright Scholar program’s mission is to build mutual understanding between the citizens of the United States and other nations.